Vacuum packing means or the like



Sept 1.5, 1942` s. sAFRANsKl :TAL 2,295,692

VAQUUI PACKING MEANS OR THE LIKE Filed Aug. 19, 1959 5 sheets-shea 1 ll/1111111141111 kw 1 m T1 w' l Sept. l5, 1942.

VACUUM PACKING MEANS OR THE LIKE S. SAFRANSKI El' AL Filed Aug. 19. 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sepi- 15, 1942 s. sAFRANsKl erm. 2,295,692

VACUUM PACKING MEANS OR THE LIKE Filed Aug. 19, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 19, 1939 s. sAFRANsKl Erm.

VACUUM PACKING MEANS OR THE LIKE Sept. 15, 1942.

Patented Sept. 15, 1942 UNITED STATES arnesi Parent orgies Stanley Safranski, Chicago, and Richard Millen; aar, Oak Park, Ill., assignors to The Aridor Company, Chicago, Ill.,

linois a corporation of Il- Application August 19, 1939, Serial No. 299,943

9 Claims.

This invention relates to vacuum packing means or the like, and aims to provide improved and simpliied means for this purpose.

The invention will be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- .i Figure l is a plan View of the improved means,

parts boing shown in section;

Figure 2 isa vertical section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. l;

Figure 3 is a plan section tak-en on the line I0 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Figiue 4 is another plan section taken on lthe line4-4 of Fig. 2;

Figure 5 is a partial enlarged vertical section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2; 15

Figure 6 is a plan `section taken on the line 6-6`of Fig. 5;

Figure '7 is an enlarged partial plan section taken on the line I-I of Fig. 2;

Figure 8 is a partial vertical section taken on 20 the line 8 8 of Fig. '7; and

Figure 9 is a schematic projection of the cycle phases.

A bottle or other similar container vIl) provided with a sealing lip II, Fig. 5, and a cap I2 adapted 25 to be pressed over said lip to provide a sealed closure for said container, may be transported as by a conventional belt conveyor I3 alongwith a continuous succession of such containers and caps into a field of action of a rotated injector disk I4. The rotating disk I4 has a plurality, in this instance, three, iinger-like portions I5, one of which propels a container with its cap loosely carried thereon about a track I6 and onto a turntable Il. Rotation of the injector disk I4 is so timed as to locate a container I directly beneath one of the packing hoods I8 carried by the turntable I'I as presently described. The nger-like portions i of the injector disk I4 are spaced apart a distance which will place a container successively under a hood. The turntable II carries in this instance eight of these packing hoods in uniformly spaced circumferential arrangement and the turntable I7 may carry simultaneously a container which is being sealed associated with seven of the packing hoods in Various phases of the packing operationfwhileone of the hoods which happens to be at a particular moment at the point I9, Fig. 1, will have just unloaded its completely packed container to the ejector disk which rotates the container onto another belt conveyor 2|, and the packing hood will be ready to receive another container from the injector disk I4..

Power transmission means for the parts will 55 (Cl. 22S- 82) next be described. The turntable I'I is here shown driven by a variable speed motor 22 carried on cross-beam 23 mounted on and within the hollow cylindrical base 24 for the apparatus. A belt 25 from the motor drives a Worm shaft 26 which meshes with a worm gear 21 fixed o-n a vertical common shaft 28 all carried by the table base. The shaft 28 terminates at its upper end in a pinion 29 which meshes with a large gear ring 3i. rotatable on the upper face 3| of the base 24. The gear ring 33 carries the turntable II which is :xed thereto to overhang the pinion 29.

Intermedially of the shaft 28 is another pinion 32which meshes with and drives a large gear 33 suspended on the lower end of a shaft 34 Within the base 24-and co-axial with the turntable Il. The gear 33 also meshes with `gears 35 and 3S respectively `(Fig. 4) which drive respectively the injector and ejector disks' I4 and 20 through shafts 3'! and 3B respectively, these parts being suitably mounted as best shown in Fig. 4' also on the base 24.

The gear 33 also rotates the shaft 34 upon which it isl suspended. The shaft 34 passes upwardly through the hollow" stationary turret 33 Yiixed on the base top 3! as by stud-bolts 40 and at its upper end has keyed thereto a revolving valve header 4l. The header 4I has eight uniformly circumferentially spaced apart trapezoidal passages 42 therethrough into each of which as by a threaded circular mouth-part 43 is screwed a nipple 44 for one of the hose connections 45. `There is one of these hose connections 45 for each of the packing hoods IS and the other end of the hose is connected by the nipple 46 with the interior of the hood.

A stationary valve block 41 is carried by the upper wall 48 of the stationary turret 39 as by stud-bolts 4S and has a valve port 50 therein corresponding inV size and shape to the trapezoidal passages 42. To the port 50 is connected an eX- haust pipe 5l suitably connected with a conventional exhaust pump not necessary to be here shown or described. The trapezoidal formations of the passages 42 and valve port 50 arranged in truncated sector position provide that these parts meet along a radius so that the air within the hood has a radially elongated escape aperture when the passages 42 are in communication with the port 53. To lengthen the suction period, the port 50 is desirably slightly wider circumferentially than the passages 42.

The gear ring 30 which has been described as carrying the turntable I'i may be keyed thereto as by a set-screw 52 and rising from the turntable I1 is a revolving turret part 53 which turns with and is an operative part of the turntable. The packing hoods I8 are carried by this revolving turret part 53 and are vertically reciprocal thereon by a cam groove 54 on the face of the stationary turret 39 in which travel cam rollers 55 mounted on hood extensions such as stub-shafts 56 secured to faces 51 of the hoods. Stub-shafts 56 pass through vertical slots 58 in the revolving turret part 53. This face 51 of the hood may advantageously have a sliding tongue-and-groove connection as at 51a. on the revolving turret 53 to guide the hood in its Vertical movement in the slot 58 under the influence of the cam groove 54 and by interengagement prevent rotation of the hoods with respect to the turntable.

The cam groove 54 is so arranged that as a container is moved beneath a hood by the injector disk I4 the hood is elevated to its upper limit as shown at the left-hand side of Fig. 2 and, as the parts move in a counterclockwise direction, the hood is progressively moved downwardly over the container, to the lower limit of movement of the hood, as shown at the right-hand side of Fig. 2.

Before the hood reaches the position shown at the right-hand side of Fig. 2, a plunger mechanism 59 carried within the hood engages a segmental overhead track 60. The track 6l) is carried by a cap-plate 6I secured as by stud-bolts 62 upon the top wall 48 of the stationary turret 2 'VIhe lower wall of the cam groove 54 is discontinued as at 63 in the vicinity of the righthand side of the apparatus so that in this region vthe hoods are pressed downwardly not only by I top to permit and limit vertical movement of f.

the plunger mechanism in the hook. At its lower end the plunger mechanism terminates in a disk 69, and the disk 69 has fastened to it another disk 19. The disks 69 and 10 are resiliently pressed apart by compression coil springs 1I withrv in the limits of movement of screws 12 xed in the lower disk 10 and passing into the upper disk 69. The plunger leg 13 passes through a gland 14 which is retained by a nut 15. The plunger leg 13 carries the disks 69 and 10 through the intermediation of an interiorlyr telescoping leg 16 which is screw-threadedly received as at 11 in the outer leg 13, and by relative rotation of the legs 13 and 15 pressure of the plunger mechanism upon the bottle cap as next described to suit varying heights of containers may be adjusted. For greatly varying heights of containers, one of the legs 16 with its connected disks may be entirely removed and another like it inserted having a different length between the screw-threads 11 and the disks 69, 10. The plunger mechanism 59 is normally retracted upwardly within the limits of the slot 68 by a coil spring 59a. A gasket I8a about the periphery of the open lower mouth of the hood I8 is intended to contact the turntable I1 when the hood is in lowermost position.

A rather heavy compression coil spring 18a between the header 4I and a washer 18 secured by a nut 19 at the top of the shaft 34 maintains the header in close sliding abutment with the valve block 41 on the feathered connection 89 which keys the header to the shaft.

In addition to the exhaust port 59 in the valve block 41 there is another port 8l circumferentially spaced from the valve port 59 and open to the atmosphere within the hollow interior of the stationary turret 39.

A hand wheel 82 connected with the worm shaft 25 permits manual actuation of the parts independently of the motor 22 when desired as for adjustment of the relative phases.

The operation of the mechanism is as next described:

Referring to Fig. 9, the point I9 in Fig. 1 indicates the phase of operation shown at the lefthand end of a plane projection of the circle described by the eight packing hoods. As will be best understood from Fig. 9, when a container I9 with its cap I2 loosely placed on top thereof is disposed on the turntable I1 in vertical alignment with one of the hoods I8 and begins to move counterclockwise on the table, the hood is progressively lowered by the cam groove roller arrangement 54, 55, until at the point 83 the hood makes a substantially air-tight seal with the turntable I1. Thereupon the plunger mechanism 59 is depressed against the action of the spring 59a by the overhead track 69. The track 60 is also a cam and at its proximal end declines gradually as at B4 until the plunger mechanism is lowered sufficiently to contact the container cap I2 and hold the cap lightly in place on the container while the passage 42 of the hood unit passes over the exhaust port 59. At this point 85 the air is exhausted from the hood and container within the hood while the container cap is lightly held by the plunger mechanism as just described. Just before the passage 42 has passed out of communication with the exhaust port 5l] the overhead track 69 has a further depressing cam action as at 86 on the plunger mechanism 59 which presses the container cap I2 tightly onto the container I9, and thus the vacuum packing operation is completed. The overhead track then has a cam rise 81 which permits the plunger mechanism 59 to be retracted under the influence of the spring 59a away from the container cap and at the same time the passage 42 comes into communication with the atmospheric port 8| which permits air to pass in the opposite direction back into the hood to permit the hood to be readily raised by the cam groove and roller arrangement 54, 55 as at 88, and to be continued to be raised until the hood is free of the container as at 89 and the container is then removed from the turntable by the action of the ejector disk 28.

The invention is not limited to details of construction shown for purposes of illustration, and various combinations and sub-combinations may be advantageously employed.

What is claimed is:

l. In a vacuum packing machine, the combination with a base having a stationary turret thereon and a valve block on the upper surface of said turret, of a turntable having a turret part telescoping said stationary turret, a central shaft, a revolving header mating with said valve block and keyed to the central shaft, a large gear within the base keyed in driving relation to said shaft, a gear ring xed to said turntable, a common shaft having spaced apart pinions engaging said gear and said gear ring, and

a motor within the base in driving relation with said common shaft.

2. In a vacuum packing machine, the combination with a base, of a turntable, a pair of relatively revolvable turrets disposed telescopically centrally of the turntable, the outer turret revolving with the table and the inner turret having a cam groove, a valve block on the upper surface of the inner turret, a central shaft, a revolving header mating with said valve block and keyed to the central shaft, a series of circumferentially disposed hoods carried by the outer turret and movable vertically toward and from the table, an exhaust pipe from each hood to said header, extensions on said hoods, rollers on said extensions, the inner turret cam groove receiving the rollers for progressively depressing and elevating the hoods during the operative cycle of the table, slots in the outer turret passing the hood extensions therethrough, the hood extensions being movable vertically in said slots, a plunger carried by each hood, a segmental overhead track carried by the inner turret in the region of the lower run of the cam groove for engaging and depressing the plungers, a large gear within the base keyed in driving relation to said shaft, a gear ring fixed to said turntable, a common shaft having spaced apart pinions engaging said gear and said gear ring, and a motor in driving relation With said common shaft.

3. In vacuum packing means or the like, the combination with a turntable, of a pair of relatively revolvable turrets disposed telescopically centrally of the turntable, one of said turrets revolving with the table, a series of circumferentially disposed hoods carried by the revolvable turret and movable vertically with respect to the table, extensions on said hoods, rollers on said extensions, the stationary turret having a cam groove receiving the rollers for progressively depressing and elevating the hoods during the operative cycle of the table, slots in the revolvable turret passing the hood extensions therethrough, the hood extensions being movable vertically in said slots, a plunger carried by each hood, means including a segmental elevated track carried by the stationary turret in the region of the lower run of the cam groove for depressing the plungers, and interengaging means preventing rotation of the hoods with respect to the turntable While permitting said vertical movement.

4. In a vacuum packing machine, the combination with a base having a stationary turret thereon and a valve block on the upper surface of said turret, of a turntable having a turret part telescoping said stationary turret, a central shaft, a

revolving header mating with said valve block and keyed to the central shaft, a series of circumferentially spaced hoods carried by the turntable turret part, an exhaust pipe from each hood to said header, means for reciprocating the hoods vertically toward and from the table, a large gear within the base keyed in driving relation to said shaft, a gear ring fixed to said turntable, a common shaft having spaced apart pinions engaging said gear and said gear ring, and a motor within the base in driving relation to said common shaft.

5. In a vacuum packing machine, the combination with a base having a stationary turret thereon and a valve block on the upper surface of said turret, of a turntable having a turret part telescoping said stationary turret, a central shaft, a revolving header mating with said valve block and keyed to the central shaft, a series of circumferentially spaced hoods carried by the turntable turret part, an exhaust pipe from each hood to said header, interengaging slidable cam parts on the turrets and hoods for reciprocating the hoods vertically toward and from the table, and common means for revolving the turntable and header.

6. In vacuum packing means, the combination with a base having a stationary turret thereon and a valve block on the upper surface of said turret, of a turntable having a turret part telescoping said stationary turret, a central shaft passing vertically through the turrets and through the valve block, a revolving header mating with said valve block and keyed to the central shaft, a series of circumferentially spaced hoods carried by the turntable turret part, an exhaust pipe from each hood to said header, and means for revolving the turntable and header.

7. In a vacuum packing machine, the combination with a base having a stationary turret thereon and a valve block on the upper surface of said turret, of a turntable, a central shaft, a revolving header mating with said valve block and keyed to the central shaft, a spring on the shaft pressing the header against the valve block, a large gear within the base keyed in driving relation to said central shaft, a gear ring fixed to said turntable, a common shaft having spaced apart pinions engaging said large gear and said gear ring, an injector device and an ejector device associated with the turntable, means for driving said devices from said large gear, and means for driving said common shaft.

8. In a vacuum packing machine, the coml bination with a base having a stationary turret thereon and a valve block on the upper surface of said turret, of a turntable, a central shaft, a revolving header mating with sad valve block and keyed to the central shaft, a large gear keyed in driving relation to said central shaft, a gear ring xed t0 said turntable, transmission means engaging said large gear and said gear ring, and a motor within the base in driving relation with said transmission means, wherein the motor is connected with the transmission means through a worm shaft and wherein the Worm shaft has a hand wheel thereon for manual operation of the machine.

9. In a vacuum packing machine, the combination with a base having a stationary turret thereon and a valve block on the upper surface of said turret, of a turntable having a turret part Vtelescoping said stationary turret, a revolving header mating with said valve block and keyed to said turntable, power transmission means in driving relation to said turntable, wherein the revolving turret carries a plurality of circum- A ferentially spaced vertically reciprocal hoods ltthrough the intermediation of extensions on the hoods and wherein the stationary turret has a cam groove thereon receiving cam rollers on the hood extensions and the hood extensions move in vertical slots in the revolving turret through the actuation of said cam groove and rollers.

STANLEY SAFRANSKI.

RICHARD MILLENAAR. 

